Welcome

Welcome to the POZ/AIDSmeds Community Forums, a round-the-clock discussion area for people with HIV/AIDS, their friends/family/caregivers, and
others concerned about HIV/AIDS. Click on the links below to browse our various forums; scroll down for a glance at the most recent posts; or join in the
conversation yourself by registering on the left side of this page.

Privacy Warning: Please realize that these forums are open to all, and are fully searchable via Google and other search engines. If you are HIV positive
and disclose this in our forums, then it is almost the same thing as telling the whole world (or at least the World Wide Web). If this concerns you, then do not use a
username or avatar that are self-identifying in any way. We do not allow the deletion of anything you post in these forums, so think before you post.

The information shared in these forums, by moderators and members, is designed to complement, not replace, the relationship between an individual and his/her own
physician.

All members of these forums are, by default, not considered to be licensed medical providers. If otherwise, users must clearly define themselves as such.

Forums members must behave at all times with respect and honesty. Posting guidelines, including time-out and banning policies, have been established by the moderators
of these forums. Click here for “Am I Infected?” posting guidelines. Click here for posting guidelines pertaining to all other POZ/AIDSmeds community forums.

We ask all forums members to provide references for health/medical/scientific information they provide, when it is not a personal experience being discussed. Please
provide hyperlinks with full URLs or full citations of published works not available via the Internet. Additionally, all forums members must post information which are
true and correct to their knowledge.

Finished Reading This? You can collapse this or any other box on this page by clicking the
symbol in each box.

Welcome to Am I Infected

IMPORTANT UPDATE
Posted Tuesday, August 28, 2012

Welcome to the "Am I Infected?" POZ forum.

New members -- those who have posted three or fewer messages -- are permitted to post questions and responses, free of charge (make them count!). Ongoing participation in the "Am I Infected?" forum -- posting more than three questions or responses -- requires a paid subscription.

A seven-day subscription
is $9.99, a 30-day subscription is $14.99 and a 90-day subscription is $24.99.

Anyone who needs to post more than three messages in the "Am I Infected?" forum -- including past, present and future POZ Forums members -- will need to subscribe, with
secure payments made via PayPal.

There will be no charge to continue reading threads in the
"Am I Infected?" forum, nor will there be a charge for participating
in any of the Main Forums; Meds, Mind, Body & Benefits; and Off Topic
Forums. Similarly, all POZ and AIDSmeds pages,
including our "How is HIV
Transmitted?" and "Am I Infected? (A
Guide to Testing for HIV)" lessons, will remain accessible to
all.

NOTE: HIV testing questions will still need to be posted in the "Am I
Infected?" forum; attempts to post HIV symptoms or testing questions in any other forums will be considered violations of our rules of membership and subject to time-outs and permanent bans.

To learn how to upgrade your Forums account
to participate beyond three posts in the "Am I Infected?" Forum, please click here.

Thank you for your understanding
and future support of the best online support service for people living with,
affected by and at risk for HIV.

Just joined this forum today, 10 days away from my 3 month test and am very sick with what I believe to be seroconversion. A crazy top anal encounter and I have been very ill ever since a fortnight afterwards. Did not cum and was only inside for a minute or so but too long I fear. Went for a first test at 28 days and tested negative but ever since then the symptoms have got worse and worse. Terrible searing, burning pains in my groins, armpits, occasionally throat. like hot stabbing pains and all exactly the same sensation in every location. A persistent hoarse voice and dry throat which gets quite sore sometimes in the evenings usually. Concentrated muscle pains, upper legs feel fifty per cent weaker than normal, feels as if my walk is already affected, tendon pain behind knees, jointpain in knees, hands, ankles , all over really. Absolutely sickening nausea on and off for a month now and every now and then these tiny little red spots appear under my skin, on my arm, on my hand and today on lower arm. Only a handful of them at different times but definetly something I have not experienced before. 3 small red blotches have appeared and then faded on my face.

Have little or no energy and yet sleeping is a nightmare. Wake up at five every morning and cannot sleep again. Hideous nightmares and the occasional head sweat on the pillow. Keep getting recurring shivers and chills and sometimes a mild fever, maybe about 8 times this month. Have not noticed any swelling in my glands and 3 doctors have examined them and found none but the groin/armpit pain has been there etc. Lower back pain on the left side and a strange tightening feeling across the bottom of my gut for a few weeks now. Occasional diaroah, not sustained, two or three flows since incident.

Have explored all normal blood tests and everything is normal, nothing in all my swabs etc and yet I feel like death warmed up. A little phelgm from throat every morning. Oh yes, blocked dry sinuses with eye pressure for a month now, sneezing six or seven times a day, a week of dry eyes, two weeks of itchy nose as if a thousand midges were flying up it all day and overall a body that feels like it has experienced a nuclear entry is the best way I could describe it. Needles and pins in my muscles (often accompanied by shivers and nausea), in my fingernails, feet, hot hands and feet. Twice this month my testicles have swollen up and became very puffy and tender to the touch and then went back to normal next day. A whitish, yellowy tongue for much of the time, sometimes with a coarse spilt down the centre heightened by white grooves.

My main additional worry is that I am 50 and have had two thirds of a lung removed 7 years ago. I already have a somewhat weakened immune system already and it feels to me as if my body is accelerating in progression at a worrying rate. Remaining philisophical and greatly inspired by what I have read on this forum and very proud to join it, but if I can make the next test date without hospitalisation I shall be quite surprised. Would appreciate any comments aboutthe issues surrounding progression and acceleration in paitients with previous serious medical problems. Am a tough cookie and would appreciate frank honesty.

You've given a lot of information but you haven't told us what put you at risk for HIV.

Certainly there is absolutely nothing among the symptoms you are reporting which is in anyway HIV specific. But then neither the presence nor the absence of symptoms will ever tell you anything accurately about your HIV status. Only an HIV specific test can give you that answer and you're only a few days away from being able to get that answer.

sorry about all the info. Its in the first few sentences ' a crazy top anal encounter' with a guy I did not know in bathouse. Ridiculously reckless and stupid I know. I was the top, it was brief but a proper penetration without climax for a short while. I know that the symptoms are not only speciifc to HIV but because of the severity of symptoms, the clinic Doctors suggested I explore all other types of blood tests in the meantime, with my normal doctors and local hospitals and everything has come back as normal. But of course the one thing those tests wont show is the HIV infection iif it is there. That is why I am concerned. Because all my normal health tests have checked out and I am still quite badly ill and the symptoms, whilst not specific alone to HIV, do match a lot of the symptoms I have read about. Obviously then my previous medical history is giving me thought for concern as regards progression of the virus and my ability to withstand it.

Yes I know only the test will tell the final story but many thanks for your response.

The likelihood of a top being infected during unprotected anal sex is quite low. Sure you need to test at 3 months, but you'll probably test negative.

You need to stop indulging yourself with unprotected anal sex - top or otherwise. Tops can contract HIV. Do it enough and you'll contract the virus eventually - so start wrapping your tool before sticking it in other boys' bottoms.

Also you might want to arrange syphilis and Hepatitis B testing. A course of Hep A & B vaccination is probably called for as well. Ask your doctor to arrange the necessary blood tests, if he hasn't already.

OK, thanks for the clarification. I guess it got lost in the mass of details. I agree with Matty. The risk is significantly less for the insertive partner. But low risk is not the same as no risk so you need to learn from this experience for the future. You can have as much sex as you want to and with anyone as long whoever is inserting is always wearing a condom. No exceptions.

With all of your symptoms some conversation with your doctor seems like a good idea. We also advise anyone who is sexually active to regularly have a full STD panel done. That means at least once a year and every 6 months is even better.

Thanks for the feedback. Just to clarify, I have tested for all the STD and it was a blank on everything else, also got the vac for Heb B at same time etc. So no chance of those things causing this illness, more's the pity in one way. Have had normal blood tests for everything but even though I am getting concentrated arthritic pain in my joints on a daily basis, the rheumo factor showed up normal as did all others.

Woke up today with hideous nausea and corresponding muscle pains and then diarohea for second day running. Also noticed 3 or 4 more red spots under the skin on my upper left torso so whilst appreciating the comments, I am not feeling confident of a negative testing now myself. Many thanks again.

Thanks for the feedback. Just to clarify, I have tested for all the STD and it was a blank on everything else, also got the vac for Heb B at same time etc. So no chance of those things causing this illness, more's the pity in one way. Have had normal blood tests for everything but even though I am getting concentrated arthritic pain in my joints on a daily basis, the rheumo factor showed up normal as did all others.

Woke up today with hideous nausea and corresponding muscle pains and then diarohea for second day running. Also noticed 3 or 4 more red spots under the skin on my upper left torso so whilst appreciating the comments, I am not feeling confident of a negative testing now myself. Many thanks again.

Ricky,

Your current symptoms are not related to the acute phase of HIV. If you were to have ARS the symptoms would have appeared weeks ago.

And this is why we don't rely on symptoms for diagnosis, they are so non specific as to be useless.

Here's the dealio. You have about a week to go until the end of the official window period. In real terms, you could be tested right now and receive a definitive result.

Matt, I am sorry if I am not making things clear, this is not a recent onset, I have been ill like this for nearly two months. I thought I had explained that in the first post. That is why I am so worried. I am very nauseus today, had two fevers again and also have just examinined my mouth and noticed a rash of small red spots across the lower roof towards the throat. I did notice a red spot there about four weeks ago but it disappeaared after a day or so but there are four or five this time. I am also gettig headaches onone side of my head this morning, quite pronounced ones.

As for the test, I am in England and when I went last time the Doctor said there was no point in another test until 3 months as I would have probably tested negative then and still have to go back again for the 3 month one. Obviously I am not the first to be confused by all this butI simply feel very ill and am sure now it is an HIV infection.

If the illness you began having at two weeks had anything to do with the illness that sometimes accompanies seroconversion, your test at 28 days would have been positive - or at least indeterminate.

The vast majority of people who have actually been infected will seroconvert and test positive by six weeks, with the average time to seroconversion being only 22 days. A test at six weeks must be confirmed at three months but is highly unlikely to change.

I very much doubt that you will get a positive result when you go for your three month test. Keep working with your doctor to find out what's going on with you. It's very unlikely to be hiv.

And just for clarification, your topping incident was unprotected, right? You never mentioned.

"...health will finally be seen not as a blessing to be wished for, but as a human right to be fought for." Kofi Annan

Nymphomaniac: a woman as obsessed with sex as an average man. Mignon McLaughlin

HIV is certainly character-building. It's made me see all of the shallow things we cling to, like ego and vanity. Of course, I'd rather have a few more T-cells and a little less character. Randy Shilts

Yes it was unprotected Anne. Stupid drunken behaviour. I appreciate your comments but I still think my symptoms are too strong to be anything else. I suppose I am just trapped in that nightmare until my next appointment date.

It would not be so bad if I did not feel likeI was so badly ill. I keep waiting forit to lift but everyday the sick feelings and muscle pains greet me when I wake and now the headaches and diarohea are adding to it. I feel so weak, around half my normal body strength I would estimate, but with all th normal blood tests not showing anything it is hard to imagine what else it could be given the symptoms. It seems like a bit of a coincedence that the red spots have returned in my throat and on my torso, sorry to sound so doom laden.

Ok Andy. I think the only other thing I have not mentioned is the exhaustion I am feeling. Its been like that for weeks, I am so physically tired all the time and yet contary to my normal self, I have hardly done anything this last month or or so. The lethargy and tiredness has got worse as the time goes by and it seems like all I ever want to do is crawl into bed and sleep which is not like me at all. I'm normally a 1,2, or even 3 in the morning 'bed-dropper' but for over a month now I have been in bed by 10 or 11 at the very latest, quite often by 9.

Also I have just read that red spots on the lower mouth roof near throat entry can be a sign of 'strep-throat' but my throat has been swabbed and nothing showed up, so again it appears to me that this is possibly an HIV symptom. Today I am the tiredest I have been for a fortnight, a couple of fevers and the shivers sent me to bed for a few hours already. I understand the 'specific to HIV' bit, but what symptoms are specific to the virus, from what I have read, the symptoms are pretty much like a lot of diseases and illnesses. I am also trying very hard to imagine whatever could cause consistent tendon and joint pain, with no findings of rheumo or arthritis etc. Its in my fingers again today, my wrist andmy right knee tendon.

Look, we don't discuss symptoms in this forum because they are absolutely useless when it comes to diagnosing hiv. So quit going on and on about them, ok? You'll have to keep working with your doctor to find out what's going on.

I very much doubt that you're going to test positive. As I said to you earlier, if the illness you started having at two weeks had anything to do with seroconversion, you would have tested positive - or at the very least, indeterminate - at your 28 day test. The ARS illness is your body's response to the process of creating antibodies, not the virus itself.

"...health will finally be seen not as a blessing to be wished for, but as a human right to be fought for." Kofi Annan

Nymphomaniac: a woman as obsessed with sex as an average man. Mignon McLaughlin

HIV is certainly character-building. It's made me see all of the shallow things we cling to, like ego and vanity. Of course, I'd rather have a few more T-cells and a little less character. Randy Shilts

Thanks Anne. Can I just ask you guys one more question (today!) - Is there not a chance that somebody with an already compromised immune system, or weakened shall we say, like myself, could fail to produce those anti-bodies like a normal person would do in that time scale. I think that is what I have convinced myself is possible, therefore the anti-bodies did not show up in the original test? Is that not possible?

Only people on chemotherapy for cancer or anti-rejection drugs following organ transplant, or people who have been injecting street drugs 24/7 for YEARS might sometimes take a little longer than usual to produce antibodies.

But as I've told you several times now, if the illness you had starting at two weeks was anything to do with hiv, you would have tested positive at 28 days. The illness that some people experience is the body's reaction to the production of antibodies - not the body's reaction to hiv itself. Please read and re-read that sentence until it sinks in. OK? Thanks.

"...health will finally be seen not as a blessing to be wished for, but as a human right to be fought for." Kofi Annan

Nymphomaniac: a woman as obsessed with sex as an average man. Mignon McLaughlin

HIV is certainly character-building. It's made me see all of the shallow things we cling to, like ego and vanity. Of course, I'd rather have a few more T-cells and a little less character. Randy Shilts

The illness that some people experience is the body's reaction to the production of antibodies - not the body's reaction to hiv itself. Please read and re-read that sentence until it sinks in. OK? Thanks.

Ann

I am grateful that you highlighted that sentence and I must admit, in all these weeks of internet surfing , I have not come across it put so succinctly. If that is right and I am most certainly not questioning your judgement, it gives me a little hope.

Had another dreadful night with sweats as well. I would go and pay for a private test today if I could afford it, but then the Doctor told me last time there was no point testing before end of July as it would not show up. There seem to be so many contradicting viewpoints even about the tests. I have to go back for second hep b jab on Monday and yet there seems to be a school of thought that strongly says I would test positive now if this was a seroconversion illness. It really is a baffling minefield of information to try and negotiate. I think this site, by the way is one of the best things I have ever come across on the internet. Something that makes the technology worthwhile for a change.

As I told you previously, the vast majority of people who have actually been infected will seroconvert and test positive by six weeks, with the average time to seroconversion being only 22 days. Even the six week estimate is conservative - most will test positive by four weeks.

The window period remains at three months to catch the RARE person who take a little longer than six weeks to produce enough antibodies to be detected on the tests. It remains at three months because it's better to be safe than sorry, but a six week negative is highly unlikely to change.

If you can't afford to go private, why not try a GUM clinic at another hospital in your area? You only have a week to go, but if you're freaking out that much it's worth a try.

And you know what? If you get tested this week - or Monday when you get your jab - and it's negative like I believe it will be, then you don't need further testing. You're not going to test negative at week eleven then suddenly test positive at week twelve. Really, you're not.

The doctor probably told you there was no point in testing until the end of July to prevent you from going in every week or two to test. It's a waste of resources.

And one more thing - the illness that sometimes accompanies seroconversion rarely lasts more than two weeks and most commonly only lasts a week.

"...health will finally be seen not as a blessing to be wished for, but as a human right to be fought for." Kofi Annan

Nymphomaniac: a woman as obsessed with sex as an average man. Mignon McLaughlin

HIV is certainly character-building. It's made me see all of the shallow things we cling to, like ego and vanity. Of course, I'd rather have a few more T-cells and a little less character. Randy Shilts

Its another idea that I had not thought about but the nearest GUM clinic is 30 miles away. It's under the same health authority so I have a feeling they might refuse to test me and also I obviously don't want to foul up relationships with my local clinic in case I do test positive.

I appreciate all your words and if I had not been running a fever 37-39 all afternoon and not had tingles, chills, aches, nausea and numbness combined with sheer tiredness again, I would be feeling a lot better. Although I appreciate greatly what stress and anxiety can do, it cannot physically produce phlegm every day and keep somebody's temperature reguarly at mild fever level so there is obviously something wrong. Sorry for straying onto symptoms again, I learnt today that my own Doctor has gone away for two weeks and the others at the practise have all said they wont do anything else until the test result comes back.

I like to believe I am a strong person mentally Anne and the examples of yourself and many others on this board show that this thing can be dealt with courageously and in a positive manner (excuse the pun)so its not really the fear thing that is doing me in at the moment, it's just the physical illness, which is wiping me out, I feel like a shadow of myself and people are starting to notice I look tired all the time.

The other thing I am struggling to understand is the difference between the first minor illness that you mention and 'acute' HIV, it feels like the acute symptoms that I have been experiencing, so is it not possible for people with weakened immune systens to pass very quickly from infection to 'acute' status?

You're not going to progress to aids and OIs (opportunistic infections) in a matter of weeks following infection. Not even with your alleged low immunity.

You had a one-off, brief insertive incident., which is on the low end of the risk scale. You got sick two weeks later, then tested negative two weeks after that. As I've told you, you most likely would have tested positive at that point if you were in fact infected. You tested negative and it's highly unlikely that whatever is going on with you has anything to do with hiv.

You need to step away from your computer and go do something productively busy while you wait for your conclusive test. You're getting to the point where I'm going to give you a short-term time out for excessive posting. There's nothing more we can tell you.

"...health will finally be seen not as a blessing to be wished for, but as a human right to be fought for." Kofi Annan

Nymphomaniac: a woman as obsessed with sex as an average man. Mignon McLaughlin

HIV is certainly character-building. It's made me see all of the shallow things we cling to, like ego and vanity. Of course, I'd rather have a few more T-cells and a little less character. Randy Shilts

You're not going to progress to aids and OIs (opportunistic infections) in a matter of weeks following infection. Not even with your alleged low immunity.

You had a one-off, brief insertive incident., which is on the low end of the risk scale. You got sick two weeks later, then tested negative two weeks after that. As I've told you, you most likely would have tested positive at that point if you were in fact infected. You tested negative and it's highly unlikely that whatever is going on with you has anything to do with hiv.

You need to step away from your computer and go do something productively busy while you wait for your conclusive test. You're getting to the point where I'm going to give you a short-term time out for excessive posting. There's nothing more we can tell you.

Ann

Point taken and fully deserved, felt like I was back at school for a moment then! lol

Awhile back I fucked an hiv+ bottom bareback and fucked him till I came. I also was really worried and freaking out because he lied to me about being hiv+. But, luckily I tested neg. Its not as risky for the top. You should get tested, like I did, but your risk was not as severe as you think. Its the bottom that's in severe risk.

You have been coming to this forum for over a year now. You know the rules. Please do not post in any thread other than your own.

Logged

"Many people, especially in the gay community, turn to oral sex as a safer alternative in the age of AIDS. And with HIV rates rising, people need to remember that oral sex is safer sex. It's a reasonable alternative."

As I told you previously, the vast majority of people who have actually been infected will seroconvert and test positive by six weeks, with the average time to seroconversion being only 22 days. Even the six week estimate is conservative - most will test positive by four weeks.

The window period remains at three months to catch the RARE person who take a little longer than six weeks to produce enough antibodies to be detected on the tests. It remains at three months because it's better to be safe than sorry, but a six week negative is highly unlikely to change.

If you can't afford to go private, why not try a GUM clinic at another hospital in your area? You only have a week to go, but if you're freaking out that much it's worth a try.

And you know what? If you get tested this week - or Monday when you get your jab - and it's negative like I believe it will be, then you don't need further testing. You're not going to test negative at week eleven then suddenly test positive at week twelve. Really, you're not.

The doctor probably told you there was no point in testing until the end of July to prevent you from going in every week or two to test. It's a waste of resources.

And one more thing - the illness that sometimes accompanies seroconversion rarely lasts more than two weeks and most commonly only lasts a week.

Ann

Went back to my GUM clinic for my last Hep vac on Monday and they listened and then offerered to test me again, but insisted that I would have to come back again on the 26th for another testing that they would only then count as conclusive. After some thought I decided I would tough it out, being I would still have the stress of yet another week anyway. Some of my symptoms have subsided slightly but I have what feels like a permanent weakening of my legs and I am picking up lots of little bruises , yellow ones that seem to come from no reason at all. I think I forgot to say in my original post that the first reason I went to the Doctor was because I had an outbreak of big bruises which appeared from nowhere and that I could not account for. I hope this will be seen as a fair question but is easy unaccountable bruising a symptom of acute infection?

"...health will finally be seen not as a blessing to be wished for, but as a human right to be fought for." Kofi Annan

Nymphomaniac: a woman as obsessed with sex as an average man. Mignon McLaughlin

HIV is certainly character-building. It's made me see all of the shallow things we cling to, like ego and vanity. Of course, I'd rather have a few more T-cells and a little less character. Randy Shilts

Ann, I have had somewhat of a crisis. I have been so ill and lost so much sleep, my sense of time has not been right. Last night I sat down with my diary and tried to work out the exact date of my risk incident. After a while I realised quite certainly that I am about 12-14 days out on my original reckoning which will mean I do not make the 3 month date until about the 17th of August. This has obviously shook me up a bit and god knows what they will say at the clinic. I feel like I am starting to come apart a little, its not like me to get something like that so wrong. My cold-like sensation is worse today too, sneezing a lot and my muscles are aching. One small fever last night and aches again this morning in my legs and my sore throat is still here. At a slight loss this morning in what to do or say to them and as to what this means exactly in terms of my illness which I now realise started to slowly emerge around the 27th/28th of May. Sometime after that I had first of 3 rounds of anti-biotics, one specifically for ear infection, none of which had any affect including the ear pain.

Hi, I am sorry if I annoyed anybody because I did not get a response to my last posting. I am now at the point where I went back to the GUM Clinic and they offered to test me again earlier than the 3 month period but stated that I would then have to come back a third rime if the test was negative. After some thought I decided that I would wait for the final 3 month date, given the mental strain I have endured over the previous two months. So I am due back again at the end of August. In the meantime my illness is stil a constant pain in my life.

I have recently suffered a bout of what I believe to be Herpes simplex, (Second time in this period) large hard blisters on my trunk, in my groin area, inner thighs and a nasty little cluster that became an infected cold sore in the corner of my mouth. I have fevers two or three times a day, I feel terribly sick regularly, I have sweats at odd times, i experience burning pains in the feet and hands, right up my legs, sore muscles at different times of the day and awful bouts of extremely watery diarahea. Headaches, Knotted pain in my lower stomach and Tooth pain, bleeding gums and green plegm every morning from my throat which is sore on and off every couple of days. My skin is covered in red blotches most mornings when I awake and they only fade after a good hot bath. Still picking up yellow bruises and not knowing why or how they were caused. I still have blocked sinuses and I sneeze about ten times a day if the temperature changes around me.

Given I have worked out that my risk encounter took place way back in May, I have now been ill like this for longer than all the descriptions of normal serocoversion illness's I have read about and to be frank I feel absolutely bloody awful and the symptoms are still constant. I believe I am entering an advanced state of HIV infection due to the fact that I have been told I have a low level of protective cells which is what nearly killed me when I got pneumonia. The removal of my lung following that, I believe, has now weakened my resistance to HIV and I am just desperate for these symptoms to lift and for some period of relief to take place. Can anybody comment on my current state, with any observations at all? Very worried.

Thank you for the reply Andy. Just to confirm I have discussed it with the normal GP's who sent me for all the normal blood test inc rheumatoid etc, but nothing normal has showed up and 3 courses of different antibiotics have failed to stem the infections including my ear infection which is still here since May. I have earache every day along with a horrible kind of sensation which feels like I can smell vomit and various other things. The thing I do not understand about this whole 'not specific to HIV' business is that whilst I know these symptoms can be other things, surely a lot of the things I am experiencing are symptoms experienced by HIV infected people? The watery Diarohea? the Herpes? The stomach and lower back pain? Burnings in feet and hands? Worst of all this blasted, stinging sensation in my body and the horrible bouts of nausea...The Doctors have looked for other stuff but no guesses yet, I suppose my main worry is that if I am HIV can I be accelerating at an increased level because of my low cells previously? Sorry to ask that again, I just want to know if there is a serious chance that somebody could experience that if they were positive.

If whatever is making you feel ill is hiv, then you'd test positive on the antibody test by now. Most people will seroconvert and test positive by six weeks. You're past that point, yes? Just go test and get it over with. So what if you'd have to go back to confirm it if it's negative, but if it is negative, it would be highly unlikely to change.

"...health will finally be seen not as a blessing to be wished for, but as a human right to be fought for." Kofi Annan

Nymphomaniac: a woman as obsessed with sex as an average man. Mignon McLaughlin

HIV is certainly character-building. It's made me see all of the shallow things we cling to, like ego and vanity. Of course, I'd rather have a few more T-cells and a little less character. Randy Shilts

If whatever is making you feel ill is hiv, then you'd test positive on the antibody test by now. Most people will seroconvert and test positive by six weeks. You're past that point, yes? Just go test and get it over with. So what if you'd have to go back to confirm it if it's negative, but if it is negative, it would be highly unlikely to change.

Ann

Thanks Ann.

They have told me to come back at the end of August so I am going to do that. I am trying to have faith in everybody's belief that I am negative but I know I am positive. My 'cold' sensation in my nose is almost permanent now, feels like I am on verge of sneezing almost constantly. My groins ache, the pains in my right arm have become constant wrist and bicep, I have intermittent diarohea still, fevers have dropped off a little but I have the horrendous pains and nausea thru the day still too. The feeling I have as if somebody has put hot Poison boiling liquid thru my veins is like something I have never experienced and it has a corresponding senasation all over my body. Wow, this is one hell of a virus, each morning my body is coveerd in these strange red marks which fade after a while and Rosea type blemishes in various places. Little white spots on my hand seem under the skin, but then they seem to break on top, as if they are peeling. Aches in lower abdomen like tightening of stomach wall.Simply recording this as a log because I am more convinced than I have ever been about anything that I am quite sick with this now. Maybe it will help somebody else if they go thru the same thing. If this is not HIV I'd like to know what else it could be and the Doctors have no other ideas.

Just because your doctor(s) haven't diagonosed the cause of your symptoms doesn't by default mean the cause is HIV. Like Ann I expect you to test negative.

I have now developed classic looking ORAL HAIRY LEUK on my tongue, quite vivid white vertical ridges uniformly down both sides with splodges of white and a yellow coating on top with deep ridge thru centre. Also painful ulcers in the left upper gum region, same place I had oral pain at start of all this. Pink blotches all over body, still every morning, sickening nausea and leg pains and muscular pains every day, not local, all over limbs. My two big toenails have started to turn black, literally. Also one of my smaller toenails has turned dark maroon colour. Nose still caked with thick blockage, sneezing regularly and intermittant diarohea. I have read that 'Oral Hairy' is predominantly found in people with less than 200 cells which is what I have always maintained - that my weakened immunity following pneumonia and lung removal is likely to lead to fast progression of this disease. I fully expect to be confirming this following end of August tests. Respecting your viewpoints.

You can list all the "symptoms" you want to. Like Ann I still expect that ultimately you will test negative for HIV. Despite your fears and self-diagnosing, nothing you are reporting is in any way HIV specific.

Frankly there is nothing more to say about your situation until you take your final test at 13 weeks, which again I say I expect is going to be negative. Your symptoms are something you should be discussing with your doctor(s).

You can list all the "symptoms" you want to. Like Ann I still expect that ultimately you will test negative for HIV. Despite your fears and self-diagnosing, nothing you are reporting is in any way HIV specific.

Frankly there is nothing more to say about your situation until you take your final test at 13 weeks, which again I say I expect is going to be negative. Your symptoms are something you should be discussing with your doctor(s).

Good luck with your test.

Understand your comments Andy, like I said am keeping this record here, if it is positive, it will show something, if it is negative it will show what strength of physical symptoms can manifest. I am only one in my body though and having experienced major illness before, I know this is no normal infection. Am on healthy diet, dont drink or smoke, but no antibiotics or medicine have made any difference and have have had this for 3 months now. Thanks for comments. Will not post again until test results.